Fish Out of Troubled Water
by Scribbler
Summary: Sequel to Variation on a Theme and Hand of Friendship. Anzu's bringing a friend home from America for Christmas. However, a quiet holiay's more complicated with a grumpy dead Pharaoh and the world's most famous mutant teenager. X Men: Evolution crossover.


**Disclaimer: **Me not own, you not sue. All happy. Ish.

**A/N: **Yes, yes, I know this is hopelessly out of date. My laptop ate a rather crucial scene and only vomited it up recently, after the holidays were already a distant memory. Frankly, I didn't much fancy waiting an entire year to upload it, so just pretend it's still Christmas.

This fic owes a debt to _Wings_ by Terry Pratchett, and pays homage to a famous XME fanauthor, InterNutter, who first introduced me to good fanfic and so shaped my way into fandom, and who always calls her peripheral OCs Trish. The title riffs off the song _Bridge Over Troubled Water_ by Simon and Garfunkel.

**Continuity: **Comes after _Variation on a Theme, Unforsaken,_ and _Hand of Friendship_.

**Feedback: **Yes, please!

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* * *

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_**Fish Out of Troubled Water**_

© Scribbler, December 2006/January 2007.

* * *

Imagine your mind is a camera. It isn't a jumbled mass of amorphous thought, sensation and emotion, but something with sides, corners … and an eye.

This is the universe. It quivers at the edges. Within it are countless glittering baubles. These are galaxies.

Find a galaxy.

_Focus._

This particular galaxy churns like white sprinkles being swirled into chocolate pudding, or the cream in a cup of coffee. Within it are tiny pinpoints of light. These are stars.

Find a star.

_Focus_.

This particular star has been burning for billons of years. It's older than time, but it's still only a teenager in star terms. A string of revolving orbs coil around it like a sleeping cat's tail. This is a solar system, and these are planets.

Find a planet.

_Focus. _

This particular planet is small. It isn't the first in line, but neither is it the last. It's a middling world covered in water and a few bumpy landmasses. This is Earth.

Find an ocean.

_Focus._

Blue water beneath wispy white clouds, propelled by gusts of air called winds, on which crest painted metal birds that look more like bullets. These are aeroplanes.

Find a plane.

_Focus._

This particular plane is white. It's studded with windows all along its sides.

Find a window.

_Focus_.

This particular window isn't all that big, but it's big enough to see out of. It frames a face.

_Focus._

This particular face is pale, crowned with brown and white hair and smeared with dark make-up.

_Focus._

These painted lips move around a word – no, a sequence of words.

_Focus._

This.

_Focus._

Was.

_Focus._

A.

_Focus._

Bad.

_Focus._

Idea.

_Focus._

_Focus._

_Focus._

CLICK!

* * *

"Don't be dumb. My friends will love you."

"I don't know…"

"Rogue," Anzu levelled a stern look at her, "they'll love you. Trust me."

Rogue just went on looking uncomfortable. "Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea…"

"You mean you wanted to stay at the Institute for Christmas?"

"Well … no."

Anzu noted Rogue's downcast eyes. Unlike last year, Jean had taken Scott home with her for the holidays; Miss Munroe and her estranged nephew were spending time with his family; the Professor was visiting Scotland, and Mr. Logan and Mr. McCoy were playing at being swinging bachelors. She suspected they'd be far more swinging now than they would've been, though with Mr. McCoy that could be more literal than first meant. All the men had originally intended to stay on at the Institute through the holidays, and made their own plans only when Anzu invited Rogue home with her.

Gently, she punched her friend on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Yuugi and the guys are the most accommodating people in the world."

Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't even get me started. This plane ride is too long to start playing My Weirdness Can Beat Your Weirdness."

The kid in the next seat turned to stare. Anzu was instantly reminded that they were both famous, though for vastly differing reasons. Anzu was the reigning Duel Monsters world champion; Rogue saved that same world from the clutches of an evil overlord. She was also a very public mutant.

"You want something, half pint?" Anzu challenged.

"You've been spendin' way too much time around Logan," Rogue opined, as the kid looked balefully at them and returned to face front.

Anzu shrugged. "Yami likes him."

Actually, Logan sort of scared her, but something about him stirred Yami into his arrogant old self, like he felt Logan was always trying to take his authority away. And you didn't try to steal a cranky ex-pharaoh's thunder.

Anzu sniggered. "Hey, remember when he challenged Mr. Logan at Duel Monsters?"

A wry smile appeared on Rogue's face. "Yeah. It took a whole week for Logan to stop grumblin' about kids' games and stupid foreigners. He even threatened to ban your Puzzle from the Institute because Yami was hazardous to our health. That was when we knew he honestly liked him."

* * *

****

**One Month Ago**

"_He lives in your **head**?" Kitty boggled. _

"_And you walk through walls," Anzu said, a trifle defensively. _

"_Yeah, but that's science. This is, like, mondo … not science."_

"_Real articulate, Kitty." Rogue's arms were folded tight across her chest. Her entire pose screamed protectiveness, though for herself or Anzu wasn't clear. The strain of this first visit to the Institute showed in the purse of her lips and the furrow of her brow. She really, **really** wanted this to work. _

_Anzu sighed. Kitty was nice, but tactless – kind of like herself. So what would she have done had their roles been reversed? "Would you like to meet him?"_

_Kitty's eyes shone. From the morass of information Rogue had hoped would ease the visit, Anzu remembered Kitty had been skipped ahead in everything except Gym. Somewhere under that pink glitter was a brilliant mind. "Really?"_

_It was the work of a moment to step back and let Yami have control. Retaining a full-scale spirit form, Anzu watched as he opened her eyes and experimentally flexed her fingers in a ritual she'd termed 'Preparation to Launch'. _

"_Hello," said a voice three octaves deeper than her own._

_Kitty balled her hands under her chin and squealed. "This is, like, the coolest thing ever! Even cooler than, like, saving the world!"_

"_Uh, thank you."_

"_You saw than on TV, right? Wait, of course you did. I mean, duh! Rogue called New York the moment we got back. That's how I learned about you being her secret friend – she forgot she was on, like, speakerphone! Oh, except that it wasn't you she called, was it? Well, it was, but it wasn't. At the same time. But you were there, right? You were listening. Uh, I mean … gosh this is confusing. Hey, did you ever meet Apocalypse when he was, y'know, all human? I mean the first time round. Did you two ever, y'know, meet out in the desert and stuff?"_

_Yami's bemused expression was enough to make even Rogue crack a smile. _

_

* * *

_

"Anzu!"

"Hi, Mom."

Anzu submitted to her mother's hugs, caught for a second in the rush of memory spawned by her familiar 4711 perfume. It was her mother's expensive indulgence, so she only wore it on special occasions.

"Are you all right? How did the trip go? Did you speak to any strangers?"

"Mo-om!" Anzu sighed and checked off on her fingers, "One psychopath, one lunatic, three nuns with axes up their dresses, and one guy who claimed he ate his wife's skin."

"Now, Anzu, don't tease," said Omishi, her mother's long-term boyfriend – although could you really call them boyfriend and girlfriend when they were each pushing fifty? "How was your flight?"

"It was fine. Mom, Omishi, this is Rogue. You remember I asked if she could stay for Christmas?"

"I hope y'all remember," Rogue muttered in English, "'cause it's a long way home if'n you don't."

Anzu covertly elbowed her in the ribs.

"Of course we remember!" her mother exclaimed. "What kind of absent-minded fogies do you take us for?" Carefully, she sounded out what was obviously a rehearsed English sentence. "Logue, we arr hap-pee to halve you."

"I'm real happy to be here, ma'am. It was right kind of you to put me up for the holidays, especially when you don't even know me. I really appreciate it," Rogue said in perfect Japanese. In the silence that followed she cleared her throat. "Uh, thank you?"

Meron Mazaki's smile was fixed. "Um … Anzu, honey, you didn't tell me your friend was from around here."

"Oh, she's not. She's from Alabama, in America. She's just, uh … been studying Japanese since she was a little kid. She's bilingual, like me. Did I forget to mention that?"

"My adoptive mother used to come out here a lot. It made sense to learn so I could go with her."

The shadows of confusion cleared from behind Meron's eyes. Her cheery smile returned. "Oh, well that's just dandy. It'll certainly make your trip a lot easier – and it means you won't have to listen to our terrible accents. Omishi, take their cases, would you?"

"Um, if you wouldn't mind, ma'am." Rogue stepped forward and thrust a small package at her. "It's a Dundee cake," she said by way of explanation, "to say thanks for having me."

"How sweet! Let me just - " She jiggled her handbag onto her should and took the package like it was a newborn – a mistake, since it weighed the same as a greedy toddler. To her credit, she didn't flinch when it dragged her arms down. "Wow. I've never eaten Dundee cake before. Does it have – ngg – lots of fruit in it?"

"And nuts, ma'am. I made it myself."

"How – oof – lovely."

When they were walking through the airport terminal to the exit the two girls hung back. Anzu leaned in to whisper, "Since when are you fluent in Japanese? You mean I've been breaking my butt with English all these months and I didn't need to?"

"It was good for you," Rogue replied. "And anyway, I've only known Japanese since yesterday morning, and I wasn't too sure of my expertise until halfway through our flight. The Professor downloaded it from Logan and uploaded it into me. The rest was time lag for my brain to catch up."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It wasn't. Why else do you think I was popping so many aspirin?"

Anzu blinked. "All this _and_ a cake. So that stuff about your adoptive mother - "

"Was kind of true. She did spend a lot of time in Japan; she just never took me with her."

Anzu took a moment to process this. Then, even though she knew Rogue would freeze up, she linked her arm through hers. The rasp of fabric on fabric seemed loud even in the bustle of tourists and businessmen.

"Just for the record, were you telling the truth about the cake?"

"Translation: did I really make it, or did Kitty? I'm a stranger in a strange land, with no way home and nowhere to stay if I poison my hosts. What do you think?"

* * *

**One Month Ago**

_"I want you to understand that this isn't something I'd usually allow. Given recent events, I'd much rather keep my students close by - " _

_"You mean you'd rather keep Rogue nearby. Not to be rude, Mr. Xavier, but let's not beat around the bush. The whole Institute has been looking at me like I'm the enemy ever since I started visiting here."_

"_The students and faculty have been nothing if not polite -"_

"_Oh, they've been **polite**, but not exactly brimming with warmth. Most of them, anyway. I understand that Rogue is a special case. She explained what happened with … well, with Apocalypse. Plus some stuff about her mother. People are protective of her; it's kind of nice to see. So when I see people watching me, waiting for me to make a wrong move, I understand. But I'm not the enemy, Mr. Xavier. Rogue's been a really good friend ever since we met. I'm not trying to hurt her; I'm just asking to be allowed to make her Christmas a little more … festive."_

"_Be that as it may, you are something of a celebrity, Miss Mazaki."_

"_Only in Duel Monsters. I'm not exactly A-List." _

"_The Xavier Institute – and Rogue in particular – doesn't need any more publicity than strictly necessary. You're aware of our turbulent relationship with the media, and Rogue is very sensitive of how they treated her after the Apocalypse debacle. Rogue leaving the country after they finally started leaving her alone strikes me as - "_

"_I already asked her, Mr. Xavier, and she adores the idea."_

"_She said that?"_

"_Well … not in so many words, but the meaning was clear."_

"_She actually said she wants to go with you."_

"_Grunted, but it was a very eloquent grunt. I'm not a mutant, but I do know what it's like to be … different, and to want a normal life in the face of negative press. I have a love-hate relationship with the Japanese media myself. Rogue told me you're a telepath, and I'm willing to let you poke about inside my head if it'll make you feel better. And I swear I'll take full responsibility for her safety. I'm even fully housetrained."_

"… _You're prepared to let me into your mind?"_

"_Rogue was the first person to reach out to me when I moved here, and she's stuck by me even when she knew … things I don't usually let people know. She accepted me anyway. I owe her a lot."_

"_Your mental defences are … quite strong. Are you sure you've never had training before?"_

"_Absolutely."_

"_And your mind has a strange resonance, like an echo."_

"_Um… right. I guess this is truth time. Now I don't want you to jump to any conclusions, but just how much **did** Rogue tell you about me?"_

_

* * *

_

"You got a dog." Anzu stared at the tan puppy sitting in the very back of Omishi's Espace. It barked lustily at them, putting fresh snot marks on an already smeary window.

"A Hungarian vizla," Omishi boasted.

"Why did I not know you got a dog?" Anzu turned to her mother. "I thought you hated dogs. You said they get fur everywhere."

Her mother looked abashed. "Well the house was so quiet after you left, and Omishi's always wanted one…"

"I used to have dogs all the time when I was a boy, but when I got my first apartment it was too small. It just seemed the right time to finally get one. Atemu's great company for your mother now she's working from home, he doesn't shed much, and I've never been fitter."

Anzu boggled, even as she felt a familiar presence uncurl in the back of her skull. "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

"I said I've never been fitter - "

"No, before that."

"His fur's really short, so even though he does shed, it's not as much as a longer-haired breed - "

"Before that!"

Omishi exchanged a look with her mother. "He's … great company for your mother now she's working from home?"

"I told you about the consultancy post, Anzu," her mother started, but Anzu was shaking her head.

"The dog's name. What's his name?"

"Oh. Atemu."

"You named him that?"

"Actually, he was named by accident. I bought a piece of Yuugi's artwork, and when he brought it over the puppy was jumping up at him and wagging his tail. They really seemed to hit it off, so I had no worries about leaving them alone together while I went to hang the picture. You'll see it when you get home; I put it in the dining room. Anyway, when I came back in he was talking to it like a person, no baby talk or anything, and I heard him mention the name 'Atemu', and if the puppy didn't bark at just that moment, like it was responding to the name. And, well … it fits him so well…" Her mother trailed off. "Anzu, honey, are you all right?"

Rogue elbowed Anzu in the ribs. "I think she's just a little shocked, ma'am. New member of the family and all that."

"I agree, we should've told you, but it just slipped my mind when you said you were coming home for Christmas and bringing such a … bringing a friend." Meron's smile didn't even hint at the faux pas, though it communicated clearly that she was fully aware of Rogue's fame. It also communicated how little it mattered to her. Anzu had vouched for Rogue, and she trusted her daughter's judgement. If Anzu said Rogue was a nice girl with family problems, even when the media said she was a mutant freak who'd nearly brought about the fall of humankind, then that was good enough for Meron Mazaki.

Through her dog-induced astonishment, Anzu couldn't help but feel proud of her mother – and relieved.

Shimmering beside her, Yami frowned at the puppy. _"It looks nothing like me."_

* * *

**One Month Ago**

"_Thanks, Mr. Xavier. You won't regret this." Anzu backed out of his office, intending to close it while still facing him. He wasn't such a creepy bald old coot after all. _

_Whoops, better not think stuff like that now she had proof of his telepathy. _

_It was impossible, but she could almost feel fingerprints on parts of her brain, and the dust on the floor of her Soul Room had fresh footsteps in it. "I'm glad you saw things my way."_

_She sensed the person behind her, but before she could turn around something curious touched her tender mind. At once there was an explosion of colour, and Anzu pitched backwards. She was vaguely aware of her head slamming against one of the plinths scattered throughout the Institute corridors, and then unaware of anything at all._

_An indeterminate amount of time later, a thin voice called her back to consciousness. "Anzu! Anzu, wake up!"_

"_Did anyone get the licence plate from that truck?" Stupidly, Anzu tried to sit upright. Another explosion of colour told she was fine on her back, and could she please not do that again. She cracked her eyelids, only to find her vision full of worried dark eyes. "What happened?"_

_Rogue scowled. "Jean needs to learn it's rude to head-hop."_

"_I'm sorry!" said a disembodied voice. "I said I'm sorry. I didn't realise she'd have that kind of reaction!"_

"_The Professor's told before that it's a bad habit, Jean," said another voice. _

"_Don't you start too, Scott, I feel bad enough already. Oh gawd, is she all right?"_

_Anzu was aware of Yami next to her; his emotions twined with hers and bubbled like a pot of stew left too long on the heat. He was worried about her, but more than that he was angry, and an angry Yami was a dangerous Yami. She concentrated on soothing him the only way she knew how – by letting him more fully into her mind to **feel** that she was unharmed. It wasn't something she did often, since the connection was a two-way street stuck on repeat. She found it vaguely disturbing to do something normal like bite into temaki and nearly choke at the sudden flashes of memory – this time baking heat, the crunch of sand and Mana's frantically waving hand. No doubt she'd be seeing these things again later. Then again it wasn't often she was knocked out by … what had hit her, anyway?_

_Wait a second … Jean … pushing through the snippet of Yami's life as Atemu, Anzu sifted through the information Rogue had plied her with in the prelude to her first visit. Ow. It incurred a nasty pain in the squishier bits of her brain._

"Telepath," _Yami provided. _"She tried to read your mind uninvited, and was not as gentle as Xavier."

_Ah. Anzu could just guess what kind of reception Yami had given her. Hence the psychic backlash that knocked her out. Ah, well. She'd only told Professor Xavier and Rogue's roommate about Yami, after all. It'd seemed prudent to wait until the right moment for everyone else. When you were carting a millennia-old Egyptian spirit_

"_All right, move aside please." A booming voice turned into a pair of abnormally strong arms. Anzu felt herself lifted and carried like she weighed the same as a dust bunny. _

"_You takin' her to the Infirmary, Dr. McCoy?" asked Rogue. _

_Anzu opened her eyes wider to look up at the gorilla-like teacher. With blue fur. What was with all the blue fur in this place? _

"_Must be something in the water," she muttered absently. Was that in English or Japanese? Ugh, she was too fuzzy to think straight. Why did getting knocked unconscious tire her out so much? Wasn't there a lot of irony to that?_

"_I am, though I think a strong cup of tea and an Oreo might be more in order. Make way, people. Jean, I think the Professor would like a word about your little, ah, problem."_

"She is lucky I didn't tear her mind to pieces," _Yami snarled._

_Groggily, Anzu performed the equivalent of a mental cuff. "Stop that. Nobody got hurt, so let's keep it that way. Besides," she added, ignorant of the strange stares her babbling incurred, "then they'd never let me take Rogue home for Christmas."_

* * *

"Anzu!"

Once Anzu had disentangled herself from Yuugi's enthusiastic embrace she held him out to examine him. "Wow, Yuugi. You've really gone for the whole starving artist thing."

He glanced down at his spattered overalls. "I forgot to change," he admitted. "I was just so happy to hear you'd arrived. We thought it was better to let your mom and Omishi meet you at the airport, and nobody could remember what time your flight landed, so I thought I'd finish my - " His eyes rounded. "- Uh, I mean a commission. Anyway, you're here now. You're home. You look great!"

"Thanks. Hey, Ryou! Looking sharp there."

"Hello, Anzu." Ryou was more reserved in his greeting, though he didn't protest when she pulled him close and turned his handshake into a hug. "How are you?"

"Still in one piece, despite the photographers."

"Were there many?"

"About half a dozen, all from local newspapers. I was really careful about who I told that I was coming home. I wonder how they found out."

"Um, that might be my fault." Yuugi scrubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck. "I think someone bugged the store again."

"Again?"

"I know, I'm sorry, I'll sweep up more often so I notice them."

"It's not that, I'm just surprised they can afford so many. How many does that make – five?"

"Seven in the last five months."

"Wow. And I haven't even been in the country. Don't they have real news to report on?"

"Anzu, since you left and Kaiba spends all his time in his European offices, there is no news worth reporting in Domino." Ryou shrugged, omitting the stories of anti-mutant violence because they happened everywhere these days and so didn't qualify as Domino-specific.

Yuugi peered around her. "Is that your friend?"

Rogue was trying to disappear into the wallpaper pattern.

"Yeah. Come in both of you and meet her. Rogue, this is Yuugi and this is Ryou, my best friends."

Rogue made no move to shake their hands. "Yeah. You mentioned them a few thousand times. Yuugi's the one who gave you the Millennium Puzzle, and Ryou's the one who fought off a spirit who turned the world into a giant board game."

Silence thudded over them like rocks at a stoning.

"It was a little more complicated than that," Ryou said quietly, "but that's the gist."

"Uh, come inside out of the cold," Anzu gestured. "We were just cutting up some of Rogue's cake to eat, but I'm not sure if you two walking stomachs would be interested in something like that."

"You have cake?" Yuugi's proverbial ears pricked. He rushed over to Rogue and grabbed her hands. She looked shocked, and kind of like she wanted to pull away, but not even she could resist Yuugi's wide-eyed charm for long. Plus she was wearing gloves that went up to her elbows under her shirt. "Any friend of Anzu's is a friend of mine, especially if they bring cake."

"You're … welcome. Boy," she said to Anzu when the two boys were in the kitchen, "he must really like cake."

Anzu shook her head, feeling Yami's eyes looking through her own, though the rest of him remained hidden. His relationship with Yuugi had undergone a dramatic disruption while she was Dartz's prisoner, and while it was _almost _as it had been, it had never _fully _recovered. Neither he nor Yuugi would tell her exactly what happened, and spear-filled pits surrounded those memories of Yami's, so Anzu had been forced to accept the titbits offered and trust in what they had now.

"You have no idea."

* * *

**Three Months Ago**

"_I can't believe you've lived near New York for so long and never climbed the Statue of Liberty."_

"_I can't believe I let you talk me into this."_

_Anzu's legs pumped, her muscles ached, but she refused to give up. Damn it, she'd survived evil asteroids, soul-sucking megalomaniacs and a near-apocalypse she'd been powerless to fight. She was not going to be defeated by a hunk of green metal! _

_Behind her, Rogue panted, "How many steps left?"_

"_I don't know. I lost count after the first thousand."_

"_I think I might just sit a spell right here - "_

"_Oh no you don't!" Anzu whirled. "I'm going to climb this stairs and absorb some culture if it kills me, and so are you."_

"_Can't you just take a picture and let me absorb it that way?"_

"_No."_

"_Aw, man." _

_They started off again, scrambling up the spiral staircase like newborn kittens. By the time they reached the apex they were gasping and red-faced – or as red-faced as Rogue ever got. Therefore it was irritating for Anzu to find Yami leaning against a wall, well-groomed as a Crufts champion. His eyes were closed, but she knew better than to believe he wasn't meticulously aware of where they were._

"_Water," Rogue gasped. _

_Anzu unhooked her bag. It was far too big, swallowing her arm up to the elbow as she rummaged inside. Sometimes it paid to forget you were fashionable and play the tourist. It was unfortunate she hadn't listened to that same impulse when picking her outfit – vinyl was **so **not a good idea today. "Here." She tossed a bottle, which Rogue caught smoothly, betraying hours of agility training. _

_Rogue drained the water in a few long gulps. "That's better. Now let's take a gander at that culture you was so keen on."_

_Anzu stood by, sipping her own bottle and surveying the grimy, smeary mess that was the viewing window. If she squinted she could make out something that might be the distant horizon._

_Rogue stared. "So."_

"_So," Anzu replied. _

_People milled about, taking pictures and munching on packed lunches. The smell of baloney and pickle was rife. All around the two girls raged a molasses of half-caught conversations. _

"… _so I said to her …"_

"… _Sharon, you simply must come to Cannes this year…"_

"… _it's a wonderful way to burn calories…"_

"… _you just put it under the grill and…"_

"… _Bob's your uncle, there it was, waiting for me like a…"_

"… _divine dogtooth coat I got in a Prada sample sale…"_

"… _and I made it all the way to the top…"_

"… _the signal's breaking up, Stan, I can barely hear you…"_

"… _my darling, those are the most spiritually uplifting words I've heard since Gwyneth's Oscar speech …"_

"… _I'm the king of the world, Ma!"_

_There was something about the air up here. Rather than being clearer, as one might expect at this height, the air inside the Statue was thick as oatmeal. It was air that had seen life. You couldn't help but notice with every breath that thousands of other people had climbed up to see this revered place, and all of them had armpits. _

_Rogue looked at Anzu. Anzu looked at Rogue. Yami didn't look at either of them. _

"_So," Rogue said, "how many stairs to the ground?"_

_

* * *

_

"Rogue, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Rogue, hands clasped around her coffee mug, stiffened slightly, but Yuugi's subsequent belch made her relax. She smiled and lifted the mug to her lips. "Get in line, short stuff. That cake has won more hearts than my face ever did."

"I can't believe that." Yuugi's expression was painfully earnest.

Anzu wanted to kick him under the table, but she was too far away. She'd explained in her emails how sensitive Rogue was about the whole intimacy thing. Romance was a raw spot, since all previous experiences had ended in either heartache or kidnapping.

Rogue toyed with her mug handle in a combination of discomfort and shyness. Even after months apart, it was easy to see how well Anzu, Yuugi and Ryou slotted together, like three sides of the same triangle. It was easy to be the Zeppo in their presence. Anzu saw on Rogue's face the same thing she'd schooling off her own when she first visited the Institute and realised she'd have to share her new friend with dozens of other people, and that their special bond _wasn't _so unique.

For all that she was prickly as a cactus, Rogue had this way of attracting people and bringing out their softer sides. Even Yami, with a little coercion, had become quite protective of her. Rogue had been hurt many times, but she hadn't admitted defeat, coming back stronger from every pothole and roadwork in the road of life. Her resilience reminded Yami of his days at the head of a nation.

Anzu was savvy enough to recognise that she had initially projected her hang-ups about protecting Yuugi (a leftover from their fractured childhood and her continuing guilt over it) onto Rogue, and had attempted to build a healthier relationship because of it.

"Believe it, short stuff," Rogue murmured.

Ryou coughed into his fist. "Anzu, do I hear barking?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That's Atemu, our new dog."

"You named your dog Atemu?"

A sense of grumpy outrage erupted at the base of Anzu's skull. She looked at Yuugi.

He flushed. "Heh, uh … so, Rogue, why don't we compare saving-the-world stories? Any dragons in yours?"

* * *

**One Month Ago**

_"Knock knock."  
_

_Anzu sat up on the cot. "Hello?"  
_

_"Hi," said Jean, scuffing her feet in the Infirmary doorway. "Can I come in?"  
_

_Disappointed and a little uneasy, Anzu replied, "It's your house."  
_

_It was both comforting and worrisome to feel Yami spring so venomously to life. However kind and gentle people claimed, Jean Grey would have to do a lot to move the grudge he now held against her. Nobody – but nobody – harmed his aibou without retribution. Anzu had spent a long time talking him down, and wasn't sure if this visit might set him off again.  
_

_"I came to apologise." Jean looked around. "Is Dr. McCoy here?"  
_

_"No, he went to fetch some dinner, and Mr. Xavier – sorry, Professor Xavier wanted to talk to Rogue." _

"_Ah. I was wondering where your shadow went. Look, Anzu is it? I'm sorry for what happened."_

_Though she felt Yami bristle, Anzu shrugged. "You didn't mean to K.O. me. I hope."_

"_Of course not!" Jean looked aghast. "I was just … Head-hopping is a bad habit."_

"_No question." Anzu nodded vigorously. "That's what I'd be saying if I knew what it was."_

"_Sort of like telepathic eavesdropping. Um, in that it's exactly like telepathic eavesdropping. It's telepathic eavesdropping. And I really am sorry. It was rude and horrible of me to do it, especially when Rogue made us all promise to be on our best behaviour. It's not often she brings friends home after … last time."_

"_I'm aware that her last non-mutant friend turned out to be her mother in disguise. It's not easy coming here and being the outsider with **that** hanging over your head." Anzu frowned. "You could've just asked if you wanted to know something."_

"_Yeah. I'm sorry." Those loafers looked like they'd been scuffed a lot recently, presumably on Professor Xavier's carpet. "We're just not used to non-mutant visitors at the Institute. It's made us – well, most of us – a little nervy. The last time any non-mutants came here was to check we weren't planning terrorist attacks. Plus your mind has this weird … vibe to it. I wasn't intentionally listening in for that, you just radiate really loudly. Not that I'm trying to be rude, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it's … unusual."_

"_Like an echo?" Anzu suggested, remembering her conversation with Professor Xavier. _

_Jean blinked. "Yeah." Then she looked embarrassed, as if she regretted her next question but had to ask it anyway. "Do you … **are** you a mutant?"_

_Anzu sighed. It would've been an easier explanation than the truth, but then so would blaming little green men from Planet Zog. Yami may distrust Jean Grey, but Anzu got the feeling she was one of life's genuine altruists. She could definitely identify with the mother bear instincts. Rogue had grudgingly admitted that Jean was the kind of person you went to with your problems because she'd try to solve them with you, not for you. _

_Ah well, bits of truth were already floating around the Institute. The rest was going to come out sooner or later, and she'd rather she explained the uglier parts personally. _

"_No, I'm human. But I am a bit … different."_

"_I thought so." _

_Yami snarled and coalesced behind Jean with a murderous expression._

_Jean's eyes widened. She whipped around, but her gaze didn't alight directly on him. Rather, it scanned the room in the manner of the single wildebeest who just sniffed the lion. The air buzzed and Anzu wondered if that was what barely restrained telekinesis felt like. _

"_It's okay," she said. "That's my … other half, you could say."_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_It's a long story."_

_Jean's eyes narrowed at her. She definitely considered her next move, but for no more than a millisecond. Protective instincts won out in her face, and Anzu felt a little better about Jean Grey than she had when banging her head off a plinth. _

"_How long?"_

"_How long have you got?"_

_

* * *

_

"Ryou got himself a job at the post office."

"What?" Anzu finished brushing her teeth, dried her mouth and stuck her head around the door to the master bedroom, where her mother sat by the dresser brushing her hair. "What was that?"

"Your friend Ryou. Yuugi told me he's working at the post office until January."

"Uh-huh, he told me. Yuugi's starting there next week, too."

"He is?" Her mother swept her fringe off her face to examine her forehead. "Do you think you'll - "

"I don't think so, Mom. Not with Rogue here, and not when I have that exhibition duel on Saturday."

"Oh, of course. I forgot." She turned to face her daughter. "Honey, be honest, do I look old?"

Anzu gazed at her mother. Meron Mazaki had bequeathed her blue eyes and petite frame, and there was enough resemblance between them that strangers in the street would immediately recognise them as mother and daughter. However, there were new lines bracketing her mouth, and wrinkles around her eyes that hadn't been there when Anzu first boarded the plane for New York. Packets of blood pressure tablets sat by her mascara.

Anzu was immediately struck with a sense of her mother's mortality, and guilt welled up inside her like the contents of a backed-up toilet. After all this time, Meron still had no idea of Yami, the Millennium Items, or just how many times Anzu had risked her life fighting evil. As far as she knew, she was mother to an extraordinarily talented girl who had kept her gaming skills under wraps, masking them in dance, until forced into conflict with Seto Kaiba over a Blue Eyes White Dragon card. Unwilling to cause her mother more worry than necessary, Anzu had kept her secrets until they were almost a compulsion. The irony that she would tell a total stranger like Jean Grey more than her own mother didn't escape her.

Anzu tried to be casual, but managed it about as well as a Buckingham Palace sentry. "Of course you don't look old, Mom."

Meron smiled, emphasising her crow's feet. "Liar. Come here and give me a kiss."

Anzu dutifully pecked her on the cheek, and squawked as she was drawn into a bear hug – made awkward because she was standing while Meron sat. Her mother smelled like shampoo and anti-wrinkle cream.

"I've missed you so much while you've been away."

"I missed you too, Mom."

"You are taking care of yourself, aren't you? Eating right? Paying your bills?"

"Mo-om, you ask me that every time we talk on the phone."

"Indulge me. Are you happy living in New York?"

Anzu thought about all that had happened to her since moving there. "Yes."

"Good. Because you know, there's always a bed for you here if it gets too hard and you want to come home."

Rather than protest, Anzu just hugged her again. "I know, Mom."

When she went back to her room she found Rogue sitting by the computer, fingers poised over the keyboard. "Hey. I was just writin' an email home."

Anzu closed the door. "Tell them you're fighting an ancient evil cult that wears their underpants on their heads and barbeques its victims on spits. I'm battling their leader for your soul. Oh, and tell them I said hi."

"Will do." Rogue tapped away and hit send. "Is it okay if I mention the huge crush the leader got on you?"

"Dang, I was hoping to keep that secret." Since she was already in her pyjamas, Anzu pulled open her futon and climbed in. "Have you used the bathroom?"

"Yup." Also pyjama-clad, Rogue made for the bed. "Y'know, I could easily sleep on the floor if it's too uncomfortable for you - "

"Will you be quiet about that already? You're my guest, and my mother would kill me if I made a guest sleep on the floor."

"Right. Just askin'." Nestling down, Rogue continued, "So … your friends Ryou and Yuugi. They're nice."

"Yeah. We've been through a lot together."

"I could tell. Y'all are real close."

Anzu studied her nails and their chipped black polish. "Sometimes it's weird just being with them. Like, I take a step back and think 'Why are they still hanging with me when I attract disaster like an old bone attracts dogs'? Were they using the bathroom when the common sense was given out?"

"Believe me, I know the feelin'," Rogue assured her. "I know that feelin' plenty. Some days I feel like I'm just trouble waitin' for a place to happen. Some days it's already happenin'. You need good friends at times like that."

"Yeah."

They sat for a moment, each engrossed in her own thoughts.

"Nengajoo," Anzu said suddenly.

"Gesundheit."

"No, nengajoo. I need to write mine."

"Huh?" Rogue looked blank.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you don't have those in America. Nengajoo are New Year cards, kind of like Christmas cards, except that they all arrive on January 1st. Everybody sends them. That's why Ryou and Yuugi are working at the post office – they have lots of part-time jobs this time of year to cope with all the mail. My mom telling me about that reminded me that I need to write mine."

"Oh. Cool. Can I help?"

"Sure! That'd be great." Anzu thought for a moment. "Have you ever eaten mochi?"

"Ain't that a character from a kids' show?"

"No need to ask if you've tried kagami mochi and daidai, then. That's traditional at this time of year, like plum duff."

"What? The Professor only put language skills up here," Rogue tapped the side of her head with a loose fist, "I'm still learnin' the rest. It's weird enough y'all don't got normal Christmas celebrations over here, let alone anythin' else."

Anzu pursed her lips, struck by an idea. "Are you homesick?"

"No. Yeah. A little. I'm just not used to Japan yet. It'll come."

"It _has _only been a day. I felt the same way when I first got to New York."

Rogue shrugged. "Not like I got a lot waitin' for me back home at this time of year. Even the Brotherhood got invited places for the holidays – though I still question Jean's sanity in takin' Scott _and _Fred home. An' by the way, I ain't never eaten plum duff in my life."

Her words were a thin veil stretched across her true meaning.

"You're welcome," said Anzu, brain working nineteen to the dozen.

* * *

**Four Months Ago**

_"So … you've never heard of me?" _

"_Should I have?"_

_The words were the important thing, not the speakers. Both girls looked at each other over their drinks, each taken with the idea that her celebrity hadn't stretched as far as the other. _

"_But I was on the news a whole bunch when Mutantkind got outed," Rogue said at last. "It was on all the major networks."_

"_Japanese TV tended to focus on Japanese mutants," Anzu pointed out. _

"_Oh."_

"_On the upside, relations seem to be going better than they were back then. We've got our very own super-duo now, government-sanctioned and everything. Sunfire and Deathstrike."_

"_Yeah, I heard about that. Logan – one of my teachers – used to work with Deathstrike."_

"_He did?"_

"_It was a long time ago." Rogue paused for a moment. "A **real** long time ago."_

"_Wow." Stuck for something to say, Anzu sucked at her straw. Thick strawberry glue filled her mouth. No matter how far she travelled, McDonalds milkshakes were still ice cream in a cup. "You're so much more famous than I am, though."_

"_You're the Duel Monsters World Champion. That's pretty famous."_

"_Yeah, but only in gaming circles. And even then, my relationship with Seto Kaiba - "_

"_Who?"_

"_I envy you not knowing who that jerk is. My **supposed **relationship with Seto Kaiba is more famous than I am. I'm tabloid and Game Magazine. You're all … political."_

_Rogue frowned a little. They'd chosen to sit in the far corner of the restaurant, but the light streaming through the windows fell square across her face. Her pallor struck Anzu again – Rogue looked like a blood donor who couldn't say when. "All things considered, I'd rather be famous for achievin' somethin' than for bein' attacked by a giant robot. Or accidentally releasin' a millennia-old Egyptian guy."_

_Inwardly, Anzu winced. She'd sent Yami into the Puzzle after an argument over whether she should talk to this girl. Sometimes his overprotective yen could be stifling. Rogue's words rang deeply within her, but not deep enough to make her spill all her secrets straight away. She wasn't stupid, just lonely and far from home. _

"_I see your point." Anzu sucked again at her milkshake._

_A moment passed._

"_Doesn't it bother you?" Rogue suddenly burst out._

"_Huh?"_

"_Being seen with me, now you know who - what – I am."_

"_Should it?"_

_Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Are you one of those hippy let's-all-be-friends-and-join-hands folk?" Her voice was laced with suspicion. "'Cause I've met a whole bunch of those so far, and not one of 'em had anythin' worth sayin'. They were all pot and puttin' me in front of cameras to make a statement. 'We're pro-mutant – looky at which one we made friends with!' Bein' used like that makes me sick."_

_Anzu snorted and gestured to herself, to her outfit, the chain around her waist and the Millennium Puzzle that dangled from it. "Do I look like a hippy?"_

"_So … why are you still sittin' there?"_

"_I haven't finished my drink yet."_

"_Don't sass me."_

"_Sass? What's that?"_

"_Just answer my question." Rogue pouted. "Please."_

_Anzu thought about it. Then she shrugged. "I have an incredibly high weirdness threshold. People moving things with their minds, firestarters, metal claws – I've seen worse. Truly. In fact, I'd say that my threshold is probably higher than yours."_

"_I find that hard to believe. Unless you're a mutant as well." For a second there's hope in Rogue's eyes, but it's immediately subsumed by her suspicion. _

_Anzu shook her head. "The truest stuff is the hardest. When it's easy to believe, it's usually fake. Or that's my experience, anyway."_

_Rogue regarded her sceptically, as though trying to figure out if she'd extended the hand of friendship and grabbed a nutjob. Anzu got the feeling that extending that hand went against her character, and decided right then that she'd make every effort to be friends with this girl. She'd tasted easily-given friendship and found that, most of the time, friendship you hadn't earned was substantial as cigarette smoke in a gale. The stuff you had to work for was rarer, but sweeter. All her friends back home had started out shaky and strengthened over time, and look at how close they were. There weren't many people who would willingly throw down their souls for you. _

_A couple of guys went past, each wearing a revolting Hawaiian shirt. One of them carried a tray of food, but the other nudged him and nodded at Rogue. Tray Guy sneered, and Anzu suspected he wasn't looking at her because she was a pretty teenage girl with no obvious boyfriend attached. _

_Rogue didn't so much as glance at them, but it was obvious she knew they were there. It was a very barbed non-glance. "Yeah," she drawled, "I allow that's true. The truth is always complicated."_

_

* * *

_

Somehow Anzu and Rogue had landed the job of taking Atemu for his morning walk. The puppy strained at his leash, in between diving between their ankles in an attempt to trip them up.

"Oh, for crying out - "

"Let me have that." Rogue took the leash while Anzu extricated herself. She was loath to get too close because of Atemu's endearing habit of lavishing close faces with doggy kisses. Rogue liked him, but had no desire to spend the day sniffing things and cocking her leg at trees.

Atemu sat wagging his tail, thoroughly enjoying this new game. Anzu cursed him, cursed her thick gloves, cursed dog accoutrements and cursed all weak puppy bladders everywhere. When she was free he took off again, all but completely strangling himself and wrenching her shoulder from its socket when he spotted a neighbour's priceless Siamese.

"No, Atemu!" Anzu cried. How could a puppy be so _strong_? "Bad dog! Sit! Stay!"

"Roll over," Rogue added. "Play dead!"

Atemu ignored all suggestions, instead dragging the two girls halfway down the street, before losing interest in Tiddles and tangling himself in an ornamental rose bush instead. When Anzu tried to unhook him from the branches he licked her face, slipped his collar and hared off towards the park.

"It is way too early for this," Anzu grumbled. "Mom is going to skin me if he gets hit by traffic, and Omishi will never speak to me again if I lose his precious dog." She stepped off the kerb and jumped back again to avoid being hit by a van. "Bozo!"

Rogue jogged alongside her when an opening came up. "You like Atemu really. I saw you playing with him this morning."

"That wasn't playing, he'd run off with my shoe."

"At least we're getting some exercise."

"Oh no."

"You hate exercise that much?"

"No, not that oh no. _That _oh no." Anzu motioned towards the park gates, through which Atemu could be seen. He was in the arms of a tall guy in a faded green jacket. Anzu recognised him immediately, though Rogue had no clue who he was.

"You lose something?" said the stranger. He had hair the chewed yellow of a bathroom sponge and eyes ringed with dark circles that were nothing to do with kohl like theirs.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks." Anzu pushed hair from her eyes and struggled to get the puppy's collar back around his neck.

"Here." With deft fingers, the guy took the collar and, one-handed, fastened it. Since the leash was still attached Atemu was once again a pet, not a stray. "There you go, little guy. We don't want you getting lost. I don't wanna see any lose dog signs at this time of year."

He set him down, whereupon Atemu licked his hand and started scratching behind his ear with one hind leg. He looked up at all assembled, insensible to the awkward position he'd landed Anzu in.

She thanked the rescuer, trying not to look him in the eye. For his part, the guy blew off her thanks while looking vaguely puzzled, as if trying to place her face. Her eyes were thick with make-up, and she'd swept her hair into a bristly ponytail that completely altered the shape of her face. The Millennium Puzzle nestled beneath the sweater tied around her waist.

The guy shook Rogue's gloved hand too, scratched Atemu behind the ears, and excused himself, saying he had to get to work.

"But you be good, boy," he said to Atemu. "Christmas is a time for family, so don't go abandoning yours. Especially since they're willing to run into traffic for you."

Anzu flushed. "You saw that?"

"You must really love this dog."

As he walked away, Rogue turned to Anzu. "Awkward much? Was he an old boyfriend or something?"

"Or something. Yami nearly sent his soul to the Shadow Realm once."

"Seriously? But I thought he only did that to jerks and megalomaniacs. That guy seemed so normal – nice even."

"It's a long story, but the nutshell version is that he and his buddy tortured Yuugi in high school, and I took exception to it. So did Yami, but Yami was more … active about showing it. He wasn't so reserved back then."

"Wow." Rogue looked over her shoulder at the retreating figure.

"Yeah. Wow." Uncomfortable, Anzu bent down to wag her finger at Atemu. "Now don't you dare try anything like that again, understand? We're going to go for a nice, peaceful walk through the park, and you are going to be the perfect dog. You're going to do your business, get rid of some of that manic energy, and then we're going to walk home. Right?"

Atemu scratched behind his ear again, and then scented the air.

Anzu spotted the squirrel before he did, and so had started her "Atemu, no!" before he took off. "Rogue! Stop this crazy dog!"

Rogue jogged after them. "You're askin' the wrong mutant, girl. I don't speak canine."

* * *

**One Month Ago**

"_Is anyone out there?" Anzu yelled. "Let me out!" _

_The room vibrated once more as if from a distant explosion. The situation had all the earmarks of Not Good. After the first such disturbance Dr. McCoy had stood very still for a moment, as if listening to something Anzu couldn't hear. Then he'd sprinted from the Infirmary and keyed in a code that sealed her within, presumably for her own safety. Evidently he'd forgotten that she'd saved the world a couple of times and didn't **need **mollycoddling. _

"This isn't mollycoddling," _Yami opined. _"This is keeping you safe."

_Anzu whirled. "You're back!" she said needlessly. It hadn't taken much persuasion to make him investigate topside, though he'd gone with his usual cantankerous muttering. "What's going on?"_

_Yami glared at the closed door. _"They are under attack. I didn't recognise their assailants, but they seem to be quite strong."

_Everyone Anzu had spoken to here had related a different incident involving the Institute 'suiting up' and playing heroes as 'X-Men'. She knew that fighting and being attacked was a semi-regular occurrence around these parts. Hell, she **saw **the Danger Room during her tour. Still, it rankled that they were in trouble and had locked her away where she couldn't help. If there was one thing Anzu knew, it was that true friends didn't desert their friends when things got tough. Even if they couldn't actually do much, they at least made an effort. _

"_Get me out of here."_

"I think that would be most unwise."

"_Get me out of here now."_

"You're letting your emotions blind your common sense. They are mutants and other mutants are attacking them. Both sides are very powerful. They do not stick to the rules of a card game." _She sensed it took a lot for him to say this. When you'd used a card game to decide the future of the planet, it had to be galling to find not everyone viewed it with the same reverence. Somehow Anzu knew just holding up the God Cards wouldn't do much good in this situation. _

"_Maybe I can't do much, but I can do **something**. I can help."_

"No you can't."

"_Okay then, **you** can help. Please, Yami. I can't just … just sit here and do nothing. You know your powers increased after Egypt. You could use them – do something to stop anyone getting hurt, or try at least. Please…" She gazed at him, willing him to agree. _

_The nature of his abilities had changed when he refused to enter the Ceremonial Battle, instead choosing to remain in the Millennium Puzzle and at her side. Anzu had been surprised at his decision, and even more surprised at her own acceptance of it, and him. From inauspicious beginnings, through constant arguments and more hairy situations than a school for werewolves, she now honestly couldn't imagine her life without him. The door to the Shadow Realm was closed that day, but though they can be locked, no door is ever completely sealed. The wisps that escaped were Yami's dominion and his responsibility, to manipulate in ever-new ways that surprised them both whenever he used his powers._

"That could be dangerous," _Yami warned. _

"_I don't care!" The room shook again. "Yami, we've got to do something!" Anzu could hear her own anxiety; voice scaling, like when she'd had to read out to the class in second grade and the girls in the front row looked at her like they were wondering what she was **for**. _

_Yami sighed. "Stupid girl." _

_Anzu's smile was tight. She knew she'd got him. _

_The door made a hollow clang as it thudded against the far wall, and fizzed as fragments of solid shadow dissolved off its surface. Yami slipped from under Anzu's skin, leaving her to run the corridors while he projected his astral form ahead to check out what awaited. _

_Anzu was glad she'd thought to put her boots on; she found broken glass and debris the closer she got to the main staircase. A few paintings were on the floor, and a cold wind blew. Sounds filled her ears; sounds that reminded her of battle scenes in action movies, all bangs and crackles and crashes. For a second she questioned her own sanity in rushing towards those sounds, and then she was standing at the top of the stairs surveying devastation she hadn't witnessed since Kaiba blew up his own island. _

"_What the - "_

_A lightning bolt flew past her head and crumbled part of the wall. _

"_Whoa!" Anzu stumbled backwards, reflexively reaching for her deck. She used to leave it at home, but Yami had insisted on bringing it to Bayville. Now her hands keep returning to it, like two anxious birds shoring up a nest. She stopped only when she heard a cry and recognised the voice. "Rogue!"_

_Stumbling down the staircase, Anzu rushed outside, to where five people she didn't recognise faced off against … she recognised the faces, but the costumes were right out of her most garish manga. Could that really be Jean wearing the unflattering green triangle? _

_The four she didn't recognise wore equally tasteless costumes. One of them, a man with a bright purple Mohawk and silver studs through every orifice in his face, had hands the size of Anzu's head wrapped around Rogue's shoulders. Rogue dangled limply in his grasp, paler than ever and hair in disarray, like two magpies fighting over the moon of her face. _

"_This wasn't the agreement!" a woman with blue skin screamed at him. _

"_I'm changing the rules of our contract," he replied. Beyond him, Anzu could see two catlike women carrying an unconscious Kurt between them. _

"_You - " the blue woman shrieked something unrepeatable. _

"_Let them go," said a commanding vice, and Anzu was surprised to locate it in Scott's throat. He sounded like a military sergeant, despite the bodysuit, and you could crack walnuts off the stern line of his jaw. "Let them go **now**, Graboid."_

_The Mohawk man made no move to drop Rogue; neither did the cat-women. "Feral, Thornn, we're leaving," he said instead. "Persephone, we need a teleport outta here!"_

_The last member of their group, an albino woman of startling beauty, raised her hands. Her palms glowed silver, and a silver cloud began to envelop the four of them and their two captives. _

"_No" screamed the blue woman, dashing forward. _

_Instantly she did, Mohawk man tipped his head forward and the purple spikes on his head, which Anzu had (incorrectly) believed to be hair, shot towards her like bullets from a semi-automatic. Where they had been a new set emerged, restoring his 'do to its spiky glory. The woman avoided most with astonishing acrobatics, but one caught her shoulder and she spun to the ground with a heavy thump and a trail of blood._

_The silver cloud swelled. _

"Anzu."_ Yami coalesced beside her, all possible questions in that word. _

_Without even stopping to think, she relinquished control to him. Instantly she did, Yami flexed her fingers and hurled a bolt of living shadow at the silver cloud. It whizzed over the heads of all assembled and then … **merge** was the only word for it. For a second Rogue, Kurt and their captors were encased in a swirling dome of black and silver. Each colour seemed to fight for supremacy. Then the woman called Persephone screamed and dropped to the floor, and both shadow and mist dissolved. _

"I didn't know you could do that," _Anzu whispered._

_Yami grunted. _

_Below, all faces turned to look at them, though Anzu knew they could only see her body. Her eyes were harsher when Yami was at the wheel, blue irises flecked with red and narrowed in an expression that rarely sank below mild irritation. Right now he'd twisted her mouth into a line as flat and unrelenting as a switched-off life support machine. _

"_If you don't release Rogue and Kurt right now, then I will blow you into so many pieces people on five continents will inhale you every time they breathe in." Her voice was gruffer too, with a sandpaper edge and a note of authority she couldn't conjure on her own. _

"_Who the hell are you?" Mohawk man – no, Graboid – demanded. "What did you just do to Persephone?"_

"_She will be fine, I simply followed her powers back to their source and … turned them off."_

_On the floor, Persephone groaned. _

"_I thought all the X-Men were already out here," one of the cat-women hissed. "Mystique never mentioned anyone else."_

_Logan was at the front of the melee, claws out in all senses. He didn't smile at the sight of Anzu; his eyes were instead sharp, as if tipped with arrows. "Sassafras, what the hell do you think you're doing?"_

_Yami didn't reply. He was too focussed on the punks threatening Rogue and Kurt._

"_Forget it," Graboid spat. "We can make a lot of money off these two. Do you know how much we could get for the Bayville Demon and the girl who nearly destroyed the world?"_

"_Rogue didn't nearly destroy the world, she totally saved it!" cried Kitty. _

"_Tell that to the Friends of Humanity."_

_The blue woman gave another curse. She was already on her feet and holding her shoulder, but her expression showed no pain, instead being murderous. "You are **not** giving my children to those monsters!"_

"_Watch us. Persephone wasn't our only way out."_

"_You gene traitors! Quick, don't let him call for back-up!" she shouted, running forward but driven back when one of the cat-women unsheathed her claws at Kurt's throat. "Someone disrupt the signal!"_

"_Berserker! Storm!" yelled Scott. _

_Thunderclouds roiled in the sky above them, spitting lightning to match the white-blue hands of a student who looked like a porcupine that had been run over by a truck – backwards. _

"_Shadowcat!" Scott barked._

_Kitty sank into the ground like it was water. _

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you." Graboid held Rogue as if to snap her neck, purple gloves protecting him from her powers. "Of course, you could try something to stop me, but which would be faster – me or you? And are you really prepared to take that chance?"_

_Anzu felt the cold stab of panic pierce her heart. Things were happening too fast, she wasn't used to all this raw power without some semblance of rules. This wasn't Duel Monsters. This was an Oricalchos-level crisis, and she remembered all too well how that turned out. She was out of her depth and sinking fast, and suddenly she felt more homesick and missed Yuugi, Ryou, Mai and everyone else more than she had since she touched down in America – _

"_Enough!" Yami thundered. _

_The entire scene exploded in shadows. They leaped out of the ground; they swirled off shrubs and trees; they hurdled people and lunged out of the clouds like bolts of dark lightning. Several people screamed. Anzu could hear someone gagging, and felt Yami's iron control like a sweaty palm gripping a baseball bat. For a moment everything vanished under the cover of a darkness that tasted of lichen and smelled like an open grave. _

"Yami!"

_"I'm … in control …" _

_The fact that **she** could feel the shadows invading and expanding in Graboid's throat told her he wasn't. He was slipping. This was a new manipulation of the shadows, much bigger than anything he'd tried before. He was simultaneously attacking and protecting, calling forth and holding back the tide of something far greater than himself. The shadows were eating away at the restraints he put on them like acid in a leaky jar._

"Yami, stop!"

_This was a bad idea. This was **her** bad idea and he was paying the price for it. Anzu realised she had made a classic mistake, and one that someone like Rogue, or Jean, or any of the X-Men would not have made – she had entered a combat zone woefully unprepared. _

_There was so much energy; so much that Yami couldn't direct it all. It was flying out of him using her body as a conduit. It had been uncorked, unplugged, and now it was spilling everywhere; reverberating off the asphalt, the walls of the Institute, the bodies trapped within it. There was too much, and when there was too much, where did you redirect the excess? Where **could** you redirect it? Back into the Shadow Realm through the Puzzle, except that Yami was too preoccupied to even stop it coming, let alone send it back. _

"Yami, give me control of my body, quickly!"

"_No…"_

"It's too much. You need to use the Puzzle to send it back! I can't do it!"

"_But - "_

"**Do it now**!"

_She slammed back into her head and gasped at the forces attempting to tear her atoms apart. There was a feeling of hot haste; of yielding to impulse; of letting something hidden inside peep out and touch the world – and burn it to ashes. Her thoughts skipped here and there like a dud kernel of popcorn, badly overexcited but unable to explode. And then – _

_The shadows flowed backwards. She actually **felt **them skim over everyone like silk, as real as if she'd touched them herself. The darkness retreated, as Yami, free from responsibilities of the flesh, reasserted his control and sucked them into the Puzzle. _

_It took only a few seconds. When the last driblets were gone she just stood, trembling and trying to recapture the pieces of herself still floating free. She felt fractured, and an unceremonious part of her wondered if this was what people with multiple personalities felt like. _

_Yami's presence faded, as he performed the astral equivalent of collapsing from exhaustion. _

"_Anzu!"_

_The cry hit inside the back of her skull like a bullet. It snapped her from her reverie … and she fell faster than dot com stock. _

* * *

"I'd like to point out that this is no way indicative of how we celebrate Christmas."

Rogue nodded, not taking her eyes from the store window. "They've … tried."

Anzu winced.

"_You try too hard,_" said Yami, also looking at the window. She could feel him accessing her trivia memories to figure out why she was so horrified.

She'd thought the shopping trip, filled with buying gifts like they'd done in America, would make Rogue feel more comfortable. She was conscious that Christmas in Domino wasn't what Rogue was used to, and despite Rogue's claims that she was fine, Anzu really wanted her to enjoy herself. Homesickness was a sticking point – Anzu knew it was inevitable, but fought to stave it away from her friend as much as she could. To that end, she'd organised this trip with military proficiency.

It wasn't going as well as she'd planned. Rogue honestly seemed unconcerned with buying things, but would stare into store windows with a wistfulness that drove Anzu to drag on her arm and go into happy, perky places like toy stores and bakeries. She'd deliberately looked up a baker who sold mince pies for the occasion, but it fell flat when Rogue only munched disconsolately and left the outer rim of pastry.

Rogue tipped her head to one side, gazing at the life-size Santa Claus nailed to a cross. Then, like water gurgling up and out of a plughole, she started to laugh.

Anzu stared at her.

"I'm sorry," Rogue snorted, "but … it's just so funny!"

"Funny?" Anzu looked at the figure. "Not offensive?"

"Are you kidding? This is hilarious! They've tried so hard and got it so wrong that it's … it's incredible! And your face! I thought you was gonna blow a gasket." Rogue wiped at her eyes. They were attracting interested looks from passers-by.

Anzu _felt_ Yami nodding. It stirred up feelings of self-satisfaction totally at odds with her own bewilderment. He approved of Rogue's reaction as much as Anzu didn't understand it.

"Look, Anzu, I know you've been trying to make me feel more at home, but there's really no need. If I'd wanted traditional Christmas stuff I'd have stayed _at _home. I came to Japan because I wanted to know how y'all do stuff over here."

"Oh."

"An' because you invited me, of course. But all this stuff; the shoppin', the mince pies, tryin' to keep me in the tourist district; there's no need. Just do what you usually do at this time of year. It's gotta be better than what I did last year."

"That was when you saved an angel, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. And realised I wasn't ever gonna get my perfect Christmas gift."

Anzu winced again. "Scott?"

"Uh-huh." Rogue was surprisingly open about it. "But everythin' that's happened between then an' now taught me not to aim for the perfect _anythin'_. If you try an' plan for everythin' to be perfect, you miss all the cool spontaneous stuff. Like, while we were eatin' mince pies I saw a girl eatin' little, like, foam candy things I ain't never seen before back home."

"_Matsunoyuki,_" Yami supplied. Anzu couldn't help but notice the smugness he emanated at being able to identify what Rogue was talking about. Of course, _he _had instant access to all Anzu's memories of childhood Christmases to go along with the new memories he was making for himself.

"I want to enjoy myself, an' I wanna enjoy it by spendin' time with you, doin' things you like doin', not doin' stuff you think will make _me_ happy."

"That pastry _was_ a little dry," Anzu admitted of the mince pies.

The store door opened, and the sound of Mariah Carey's _All I Want for Christmas Is You_ filtered out. Inside Anzu could see bright streamers and tinsel, and a cashier in an elf costume. He looked as amused as a health inspector in the Domino High cafeteria.

"Didn't you mention something about … moki?" Rogue asked.

"Mochi," Anzu corrected. Before Yami could "So you want something Japanese? Well I could murder some ozenzai."

"What?"

It was Yami's favourite food. Though he'd never say it, she felt him sit up a little straighter at the prospect of some.

"Azuki bean soup with mochi pieces. I know a little café that serves it all day at this time of year."

Rogue shrugged. "Lead on, MacDuff."

* * *

**Four Months Ago**

_The bump looked accidental, but given that the bad-teen-movie ensemble had been following them since McDonalds, Anzu suspected it was nothing of the sort. The girl who did the bumping had perfect white caps and hair dyed a delicate shade of pink. Her pigtails swished as she brought a hand to her mouth._

"_Oh, did I just knock you down? I'm so sorry."_

_Rogue was so tense she could've whirred into the floor like a drill. "Whatever."_

_Anzu scowled and made to help her up, but Rogue pulled away in move too quick to be deliberate. She held the arm with its torn sleeve close to her chest, like a small child protecting itself. Despite the harsh make-up and even harsher expression she looked pathetic and sad._

"_Hey," Anzu said, stepping forward, "buzz off."_

"_And who're you?" asked the requisite jock. _

"_Does it matter? You've been following us for so long I'm thinking about restraining orders. Get lost."_

"_You talk funny," giggled a girl who looked like an older Shirley Temple, if Shirley Temple wore skirts that demanded prior use of wax strips. _

"_And you look funny." Anzu flushed at the comment on her accent. She learned English when her parents divorced and her father moved back to the US. Spending entire summers out here ensured she picked it up fast, but a faint burr lurked in her voice whenever she spoke. "Don't you have a backseat to be in?"_

_The girl looked puzzled, and then incensed. "Hey!"_

"_Can it, Hilary," snapped the other female in their group, a cheerleader type chewing grape-flavoured bubblegum. The scent wafted to Anzu across the sidewalk. "You know, I reckon these two muties are threatening us."_

"_They are?"_

"_Sure they are. And that's a punishable offence."_

_Rogue scowled. "C'mon, we're leaving."_

_The jock and his pal stepped in front of her. It was Tray Guy from the restaurant. "Leaving the scene of a crime?"_

"_What crime?" Anzu demanded. She could feel Yami rousing and clamped down on her emotions. It was four against two if things got ugly, but she didn't want Yami making it four against two and two billion shadows. That would **not** go down well in this sort of situation. _

_What was she doing? She barely even knew this girl and she was thinking about getting into a fight for her. Was she cracked?_

_No, she was just doing the right thing. Anzu hated bullying. It hearkened back to her early school days when she played parts on both sides of the divide, and then experienced the helplessness of Yuugi's daily plight. No, there was no way Anzu Mazaki would ever stand by and let bullying take place again while she was in a position to stop it._

_She planted her feet, legs slightly akimbo, and fixed the cheerleader-y girl with a challenging stare. It was a stare that said 'Do you really want to mess with me? Really? Really-really?' _

_The girl stared right back at her. She had green eyes that were probably contacts, but which never broke with Anzu's even when she blew the biggest bubble Anzu had ever seen. "You got something to say to me, mutie?"_

"_Sure do: I'm not a mutant, but I am getting ticked off by your attitude. My name is Anzu Mazaki. Perhaps you've heard of me."_

_She looked unimpressed, but Tray Guy startled. _

"_The Queen of Games? Oh man, uh, Trish?"_

"_What?"_

"_She's kind of, uh, famous. And really not a mutant. We could get into a lot of trouble for picking on her - "_

_Another grape bubble popped and deflated without breaking the iron gaze between Anzu and the girl. _

"_Tri-ish - "_

"_We've got better things to do anyway. C'mon, guys, let's go. I think I'm about to choke on all this mutified air."_

_They slunk off, but as she passed Rogue the newly identified Trish accidentally-on-purpose stumbled and spat out her gum as she fought not to fall over. The gum hit Rogue in the eye. She reeled in shock and disgust, and looked about to fall over herself. _

_Anzu automatically reach out to catch her. There was a moment of dismay on Rogue's face as Anzu's bare hand grabbed her arm – right where her shirt was torn. _

_It felt horribly like when she was caught by the Oricalchos, the sense of time stopping and the universe falling away. The world around Anzu peeled back like orange rind, leaving behind an unpleasantly cold, rushing darkness and the sensation that she was as thin and insubstantial as a shadow going into a darkened room – _

_Anzu gasped. She was on her knees and shivering like she'd just come in from the cold. Yami was beside her, trying to grab at her with insubstantial hands and spitting obscenities at Rogue –_

_Rogue, who was also on her knees, eyes wide and lips parted. She said something, holding herself and rocking backwards and forwards right there on the sidewalk. It was only after a few moments that Anzu noticed the white streak in her hair was gone and her eyes were blue flecked with red._

"_R-R-Rogue," Anzu stammered. _

"She was **in here**," _Yami snarled. _"She was in the Soul Rooms and turning into you, and then into me like some shapeshifting demon!"

_Gritting her teeth, Anzu grabbed Rogue shoulder – careful this time to touch only fabric. "Rogue! Look at me!"_

_Rogue's eyes refocused slowly, but didn't change colour. "You – he – but - " she sputtered. "The Puzzle. And in your head. Dartz. Egypt! I remember riding across the desert … I've never even been on a horse! Bakura set up a … a giant RPG? And then he … and then you … Yami didn't choose to … and your soul was stolen … But how is any of that even **possible**?"_

_Oh … nutbunnies. "I think," Anzu wheezed, "we need to have a little chat."_

_Dumbly, Rogue nodded; and then frowned. "What's an … aibou?"_

* * *

"It took kind of an embarrassingly long time for it all to seem real," Rogue admitted that evening.

Yuugi bobbed his head up and down, while Ryou just _stared_ his nod into existence.

"Which, all things considered, is pretty humiliatin'."

"I don't think so."

"Yuugi, you're sweet, but trust me. When y'all have grown up with a death touch and somethin' _still_ seems too farfetched to be true …" Rogue left the sentence hanging.

"She seems nice," Yuugi said while he and Anzu were washing dishes. The house behind the Kame Game Store had no dishwasher, so they were doing them by hand while Ryou and Rogue watched TV in the living room. The sound was turned low and their muffled voices filtered through the closed door. Anzu wondered what they were talking about.

She passed Yuugi a plate to wipe dry, not sure what to say. She'd suspected this conversation was coming. "She is. She was a real help in America. You know, while I was acclimatising. She showed me around and everything when the girls at school were … less than welcoming." She omitted how her classmates, jealous at her fame and suspicious that she'd someone how cheated her way into their midst, had ostracised her. She also omitted how her habit of talking to Yami had branded her 'The Alien', and how her teachers, also suspicious, had worked her harder and given her less slack than anyone else.

He nodded, perfectly amiable. His smile was wide and his eyes were bright. Even the simple action of drying dishes was done cheerfully.

Anzu put down the rice pan and sighed. "I was a long way from home, Yuugi."

"Oh, I know. It's okay, Anzu - "

"It doesn't mean our friendship is any less important to me. I haven't replaced you or anything."

"Anzu, it's _okay_." Yuugi looked straight at her. "I'm not upset. Neither is Ryou."

She blinked. "You two have … talked about this?"

"Sure we did, when we got your emails. When you hear your best friend is making friends without you, and with someone you know nothing about – and who then turns out to have saved the world _herself_ – well, that inspires a bit of discussion."

Anzu blushed. "I guess so."

"To tell you the truth, we were a littler worried _you'd_ feel like the outsider when you came home. We thought you'd have all these exotic stories about New York and the Xavier Institute, and all we'd be able to talk about would be Domino and sorting mail. But it just didn't feel _right_ while you and Yami were away, so even though we were worried, we were looking forward to seeing you again. And when you got back … it felt like everything had just clicked right back into place, so all our worries were groundless. You told your stories, we told ours, and we've been having fun, right? We function fine apart, we won't curl up and die without each other, but we're better when we're all together."

"You really _have_ thought about this."

He shrugged. "We're not kids anymore, Anzu."

"Sure we are," she corrected. "We can't even vote yet. But we're a lot more grown up than most kids. We're kid-adults. Adids. Kidults."

He shook his head and they finished washing up. While Yuugi helped her put the dishes away, Anzu slid a sideways look at him. "So … you like Rogue?"

"She's nice. Sort of sad, though. Around the eyes." He gestured to his face. "I can't imagine what life must be like, not being able to touch people; not even those you care about."

Anzu checked but Yami was still in the Puzzle. "Yeah. Can't imagine it. Hey, are you still okay for Otogi's?"

"Of course! I'm been slaving my butt off so I can feel like I earned the rest. Grandpa's coming, too. Otogi really pulled it off."

Anzu glanced towards the living room. "I hope so."

* * *

**One Month Ago**

_Maybe it was later, maybe it was only a few seconds; all Anzu knew after that was the feel of strong hairy arms lifting her and someone crying her name. She flickered her eyelids, but they each weighed the same as a bag of sugar, and when she finally got them open she was staring at the ceiling of the Infirmary once again._

"_Did I dream all that?" Ugh, her mouth felt like a litter box. A **used** litter box, at that. _

"_Anzu?" Rogue sounded wrong, her voice tremulous where before it had always been sassy. Her face looked haggard and there was a large purplish bruise on her forehead. "You're awake!"_

"_Am I?"_

"_I was so worried, I thought … I don't wanna say what I thought. But you're awake now and – hang on, how many fingers am I holdin' up?"_

_Anzu focussed through the throbbing pain in her head. "Three."_

"_Well at least you don't got no concussion."_

"_Yay for me. Ow!"_

"_Don't try to sit up!"_

"_Thanks, I won't. Um, do you have any aspirin? One the size of Tokyo will do."_

_People filtered in and out of the Infirmary. Since she'd snuck in to see her friend, Rogue was whisked away back to her own examination, leaving Anzu to Dr. McCoy's tender care. _

_He was surprisingly gentle for such a hulking man. As he worked he filled in the details of what had happened. It turned out that the blue woman was Rogue's adoptive (and Kurt's biological) mother, an unstable woman in all senses of the word. They were estranged from her – a situation she wasn't happy with. She'd made an attempt to 'bond' with her children, but the mercenaries hired to deal with the X-Men had tried for a better offer that involved double-crossing her. _

"_I think that's where I walked in," Anzu observed. _

"_A most fortuitous occurrence," Dr. McCoy agreed. "Though I believe you've altered somewhat in people's eyes."_

_Dread washed through her. "What do you mean?"_

"_Well it's not every day you're told the human friend of your most reclusive student is actually the vessel of an undead Egyptian spirit. It's ever rarer to discover that she can do … whatever it was you did out there. Purely out of scientific curiosity – and do tell me if I'm being presumptuous – but what exactly **did** you do out there?"_

"_There wasn't anything scientific about it, but I don't think you'd believe what actually happened - " _

"_We've had dealings with magic before. Didn't Rogue tell you? Ancient keys for ancient doors, behind which lurked malevolent spirits."_

_Anzu was surprised he so readily believed in the supernatural. She examined the back of her fist. Slowly she uncurled her fingers, watching at the flesh went from mottled white to dark pink. "What happened before … honestly? I'm not exactly sure what it was. It wasn't me, you see, it was Yami."_

"_Ah. The pharaoh."_

"_Yeah." She lowered her eyes. "Sometimes … sometimes I think I ask too much of him."_

"_And this was one of those times?" How could such odd eyes be so gentle and full of kindness? It was ridiculous, but at that moment Dr. McCoy reminded Anzu so much of her mother, Ryou and Yuugi all put together. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she'd become so independent since Yami came into her life. _

_No, that was a lie. She wasn't independent at all. She needed other people the way a fish needed water, but since she solved the Puzzle and set Yami free she'd set up walls around herself, to keep him in and to keep others out. True, she didn't mistrust him the way she used to – she'd trusted him with her life often enough – but she wasn't the pink and fluffy creature she used to be. Sharing the same headspace had changed them both; he wasn't some ancient, blood-soaked monster simply waiting for psychiatry to catch up  
with him, and she was vinyl to her old self's velour. _

"_Come now," said Dr. McCoy, "you're safe here. You did a good thing today. The X-Men owe you a debt of gratitude."_

_Anzu realised with some consternation that she was crying. Dr. McCoy wrapped her in the desired hug without hesitation. He smelled like antiseptic and wet dog. _

_After she'd had her tongue depressed, her temperature taken, her eyes examined, her breathing tested and her recall checked, Anzu lay back on the cot and shut her eyes. Her headache had dulled, but wasn't gone, and the light hurt. She stayed very still to let the painkillers take effect. _

_Logan came to stand in the doorway, just watching while he thought she was asleep. She knew he was there but said nothing, not wanting to explain herself to him, or to anyone for that matter. She was waiting._

_She didn't have to wait long. Yami waking up was the taste of candyfloss dipped in salt. He was a tight knot of confusion and defensiveness that loosened slightly when she reached out and tentatively touched his mind with hers, like a cat rubbing its spine under someone's chin. _

_For once there was no need for words. In a few seconds they had established gratitude, anger, guilt, reassurance, comfort and sheer contentment at being reunited. In that moment Anzu got something much better than a simple hug. Yet there was also a sadness to it, as it hammered home that they would never be able to hug for real. They'd sacrificed that in Egypt, and become closer and further apart as a result._

"_Yami," she whispered, "do you ever regret - "_

"Stupid aibou," _he relied brusquely. It was all the answer they needed._

"_There's going to be a lot of questions about this."_

"Let them ask their questions. We owe them less than they owe us."

_Anzu thought about Rogue and the other X-Men. "I'm not sure that's strictly true."_

_He paused before answering. _"I do not think your request for Rogue's presence this Christmas can be denied now."

_

* * *

_

Anzu could see Rogue trying to clap along with Yuugi and Ryou. She looked happier than she had in a long while, with a plastic tub of ice-cream in one hand and a purple beret on her head. The horrible headgear had been found stuffed in the back of Anzu's wardrobe. Anzu thought it made her look like a beatnik, but she hadn't worn the thing in years and was more than happy for it to find a new home.

Across the duelling field Mai regarded her with a fierce little smile.

It was the first time they'd seen each other since Anzu got back to Domino, since Mai had been in Osaka on 'family business'. They'd already agreed to the show-duel months before, but things were more than a little rushed when they arrived at Otogi's mansion. Apparently half the tech crew were off sick, and security had got wind of gatecrashers heading for the charity event. Heavies manned every entrance and exit, and Extra Specially Heavies patrolled the perimeter like lions in a safari park.

The net result was Anzu being spirited away from her friends and family upon arrival, and then shoved out onto the field at the allotted time like a tray through a prison door.

Mai was already waiting. The crowd were putty in her manicured hand by the time Anzu showed up.

"I see you two picked up another stray," Mai commented as she threw down her Harpy Lady.

Since Yami was in control – big surprise there – it was he who answered. "Rogue is a friend. You'd like her."

"You're seriously playing _that_?" Mai was scornful of his choice. She brought out Elegant Egotist with a flourish that garnered a cheer from the crowd. They knew what they liked, and so did she.

Luckily they were far enough away that nobody could hear them – since the techies were running short, when the duel field microphones went wrong there was nobody around to fix them. This wasn't a complete disaster; both Mai and Yami were queens of melodrama when it came to duelling, so their gestures and facial expressions on the giant video screens were enough to keep the horde of fans and philanthropists happy.

"Ah, my adoring public."

Yami gave his own fierce smile and casually put down another card that devastated her Harpies' attack points. The subsequent cheer was even bigger.

Mai pouted.

"How was Osaka?"

Her expression didn't _crumble_, but something dark did flicker behind her eyes. "Eventful. I'll tell you about it later."

Yami nodded, and so did Anzu. Mai had never been forthcoming about her family, but everyone knew her relationship with them was strained at best, and at worst non-existent. Anzu privately thought Mai had arranged to go see them when she was out of the country specifically _because _she knew Anzu would want to go with her. Yami had patiently informed her that this didn't indicate a return to the old Mai, who kept everything bottled up and everyone at an unhealthy distance. Rather, it indicated that this was something Mai wanted to sort out on her own, and they should respect that. Anzu had grumbled, argued, and brooded, but eventually agreed.

"I'm more interested in how you and one of the most famous mutants in the world hooked up." Mai played a card combo that laid waste to Yami's current strategy. She stood up from her chair to take a bow. "Are you even capable of making _normal_ friends?"

It wasn't clear whom she was addressing.

"Do you count yourself in that category?"

She laughed. "Touché."

How different she was compared to the trampled, hopeless creature she'd been after Malik got through with her. She acted more like the woman who'd seared her way to the top of the European League, but there was a previous absent softness to her these days. Mai had been through a lot in her life, and it had made her so hard there was little else to do but break, and then sharpen those broken pieces into points that cut anyone who got too close. Yet she finally seemed to be in a mindframe where she was happy with who she was. The unprecedented visit to Osaka was proof.

Anzu broke off from watching the match to look again into the crowd. Years of duels and she still got bored after the first ten minutes.

Otogi, looking stressed but smiling, had muscled over to the guys. He'd met Rogue briefly when Anzu came for a final check this morning, and was now deep in conversation with her. Anzu thought she could detect some trademark charm in his posture and wondered how Rogue would react. So far she'd kind of hunched behind Yuugi and was talking through his unruly hair like it was a shield, but Anzu knew that wouldn't be enough to deter Otogi.

Of course, he knew _exactly _who Rogue was, but he just couldn't help himself. He was an incurable flirt.

Anzu shook her head and scanned the rest of the crowd. There was Grandpa Mutou. Her mother and Omishi had seized him, and now all three stood in a little clutch of businessmen Omishi knew. Meron and Omishi were laughing and looked like the perfect couple; though Anzu looked away when he planted a smooch right on her mother's mouth. Meron pushed him off good-naturedly and pointed at the duel they were missing. Her face shone with maternal pride.

Anzu could see a few other familiar faces; some celebrities, some she'd simply come across as she moved through the duelling circuit. She wasn't professional anymore, but she was technically still World Champ – or rather Yami was – hence the show-duel. For one night the grounds of Otogi's mansion were open to the public, with food, entertainment, festive stalls and all proceeds going to charity. There would even be an auction of gaming memorabilia later for the richer guests to throw their money at. Otogi, Mai and Anzu had all donated prizes. Rumour had it the famous manga artist Kakuzi Tahakashi had also contributed signed art of famous past duels.

_I doubt he's drawn the most famous of past duels, though. _Anzu thought back to Egypt and the games that decided the fate of the world. She looked at Yami and felt a swell of … something. It tasted like figs and smelled like coming home.

Yami twitched and looked back at her. Anzu had ceased to be weirded out by her own eyes full of someone else. As she'd told Rogue when they first met, she had a very high weirdness threshold.

Yami strode to victory over Mai, but it was a close-run thing. When they stood to shake hands she winked.

"I'll get you next time."

"I look forward to it," he replied sincerely.

They turned to the crowd below the field and bowed to thunderous applause. However, as they made their way off-stage Mai raised an eyebrow and tipped her head to where Rogue, Yuugi and Ryou were being escorted to meet them by Otogi's security personnel.

"That little stray is so into you."

"Excuse me?" Yami echoed Anzu's thoughts.

"You mean you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Man, for being so insightful, you two can sure be oblivious."

Anzu slid back into her own skin, hop-skipping a little as she did so, and frowned at Mai. "I don't follow you."

But Mai just shook her head and ran to scoop Yuugi into her arms like a mother meeting a toddler outside playgroup. He squawked, but allowed himself to be swung playfully around. Mai smothered him with theatrical kisses and ruffled his hair because she knew he'd let her get away with it.

When he was upright again Mai stuck out her hand in a far more sedate gesture to Ryou and Rogue, both of whom shook it. Rogue pushed hair from her face and readjusted her beret, but smiled and nodded as Mai proceeded to treat nearby photographers to some near-studio-quality shots.

"I thought Professor Xavier told you to keep a low profile," Anzu commented when they were finally released from the grip of the press. The paparazzi seemed much more interested in the cuteness factor of Mai with Yuugi and Ryou, who each wore matching scarves and bobble hats – the result of Anzu and Rogue's shopping trip.

"He said he'd prefer it if I didn't make headlines," Rogue replied. "That basically means don't blow stuff up without permission, an' don't uncover any covert government agencies on a school night."

"Right. Just so long as we're not breaking any rules."

"You were amazin' up there."

"Not me. All Yami."

"Well, anyway, you were both amazin'."

"So you're glad you came?"

"Darn tootin'!" Rogue blanched. "I can't believe I just said that. Anyhow, I always laughed whenever Kurt watched the US Duel Monsters championships on TV, but I was really engrossed in that match. I almost understood it, too."

"Don't say stuff like that! Yami'll insist on giving you lessons."

Rogue laughed. "I could live with that."

For a second Anzu looked sidelong at her, recalling Mai's words – and then her attention was violently seized by something on the giant video screens.

"Oh - " She bit down on non-primetime language. "He just couldn't stay away, could he? And far be it for _him _to make a normal entrance."

Rogue shielded her eyes. The feed showed a helicopter landing on the mansion's roof, and a close-up of a stern-faced young man stepped from it. He was closely followed by a kid in a dinner jacket, but it was obvious who Rogue was referring to when she spoke. "Friend of yours?"

"As if!"

"The memories still hangin' around in my head say different…"

"Mazaki!" Seto Kaiba bellowed into camera. "Tonight marks your last night as World Champ! I've come to claim my rightful title!"

Anzu put her face in her hands, while Yami practically salivated at the promise of another good duel.

"Aw, cheer up," Rogue advised, squeezing her shoulders in an unprecedented move. "It's all in a good cause. An' besides, it's Christmas."

Anzu looked at her through splayed fingers. "Bah. Humbug."

* * *

_**Fin.**_

****

* * *

**A/N:** I really am afr too in love with this universe. Comments welcome, though flames have an appointment with the delete button.


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